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Thomas DiLorenzo

“Lincoln is theology, not historiology. He is a faith, he is a church, he is a religion, and he has his own priests and acolytes, most of whom . . . are passionately opposed to anybody telling the truth about him . . . with rare exceptions, you can’t believe what any major Lincoln scholar tells you about Abraham Lincoln and race.”
–Lerone Bennett, Jr., Forced into Glory, p. 114

The author of the above quotation, Lerone Bennett, Jr., was the executive editor of Ebony magazine for several decades, beginning in 1958. He is a distinguished African-American author of numerous books, including a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. He spent twenty years researching and writing his book, Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln’s White Dream, from which he drew the above conclusion about the so-called Lincoln scholars and how they have lied about Lincoln for generations. For obvious reasons, Mr. Bennett is incensed over how so many lies have been told about Lincoln and race.

Few Americans have ever been taught the truth about Lincoln and race, but it is all right there in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (CW), and in his actions and behavior throughout his life. For example, he said the following:

“Free them [i.e. the slaves] and make them politically and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit of this . . . . We cannot then make them equals” (CW, vol. II, p. 256.

“What I would most desire would be the separation of the white and black races” (CW, vol. II, p. 521).

“I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races . . . . I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong, having the superior position. I have never said anything to the contrary” (CW, vol. III, p, 16). (Has there ever been a clearer definition of “white supremacist”?).

“I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races . . . . I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people” (CW, vol. III, pp. 145-146).

“I will to the very last stand by the law of this state [Illinois], which forbids the marrying of white people with negroes” (CW, vol. III, p. 146).

Anton Borisov posted this on Thursday, 19th of February 2015 at 05:59:37 PM

О выходе украинских войск из Дебальцево..

ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine — When the order to retreat came over the radio Wednesday, most of the Ukrainian troops under siege in Debaltseve abandoned their heavy weapons, blew up their ammunition, and then fled in convoys of trucks as pro-Russian forces shot at them along the way.

But for Ilya Andrushko, one of about 30 members of Ukraine’s Lviv battalion, the only way to escape was on foot.

“We didn’t have a chance to think about the order when it came,” said Andrushko, 33. “We ran through the fields and the forests on foot, for about five kilometers. Then we just hitchhiked in whatever military vehicles would pick us up.”

After weeks under siege, nearly surrounded by rebels and calling for reinforcements that never came, they were already on the brink of collapse. They were almost out of food and water and were running out of ammunition.

Charged since mid-January with protecting the outskirts of the strategic rail town of Debaltseve, the battalion was facing the worst fighting in the Ukraine war’s hottest zone — without a commander. He abandoned them about a week ago, they said, and was blown up by a roadside bomb while fleeing.
It took them over four hours to cover the first 10 miles from Debaltseve to Svitlodarsk, the terminus for emergency and military vehicles shuttling soldiers, particularly the wounded, back to the base and the trauma hospital in Artemivsk, 20 more miles up the road.

By Wednesday afternoon, Andrushko and most of his fellow soldiers were squeezed into several rooms at the Hotel Ukraina in downtown Artemivsk, where, clearly rattled, they paced the halls, waiting for news from the rest of their team.

“We left everything in Debaltseve. We just came out with the clothes on our backs,” said Andrushko, shirtless except for a handgun he kept holstered to his chest. A few moments later, he wriggled out of his pants as well, handing them to his friend Volodymyr Trukhan, 29, whose only pair was ruined in the escape.

Standing in the hotel’s second-floor lobby wearing justhis underwear — and his handgun — Andrushko threw back his shoulders, puffed out his chest and yelled to his friend Roman, who was nursing a concussion: “Who are we?”

Andrushko and Roman roared in unison: “Lions!” — the symbol of their battalion, also tattooed on Andrushko’s chest.
Wednesday’s overnight retreat from Debaltseve left the soldiers physically exhausted and mentally torn. While the retreat was necessary, it was also late in coming, the soldiers said.

“We should have done it earlier,” said Volodymyr Makarenko, 39, a warrant officer who ran ammunition to the front lines. He said there was always the risk Debaltseve would become “another Ilovaysk” — where over a thousand soldiers died in a summertime siege. “If we hadn’t pulled back, nothing good would have come of this.”
But for many, the retreat was also a huge embarrassment — and the tipping point over frustrations with military commanders who the soldiers believe bungled the siege.

“The Russians are coming, and this is my Ukraine — Ukraine or die,” said Trukhan, a sniper with the Lviv battalion. “But our commanders abandoned us. And the Ukrainian media were repeating what they were saying in Kiev — that we had everything, that we weren’t surrounded. It was all lies.”

The collective frustrations of the more than 1,000 troops who flooded Artemivsk on Wednesday could have serious consequences for the Ukrainian military as the fight against pro-Russian separatists wears on — something almost all of them believe will happen.
Soldiers pulling back from the front lines Wednesday described their retreat as a tactical move — the same terminology Ukraine’s political leadership used. But the extent of the withdrawal has caused many to lose faith in their leaders’ ability to carry out future battles or even negotiate a respectable peace deal.

“From the moment they signed the agreement, it started to get worse,” Maxim Tymochko said of the cease-fire that was supposed to take effect Sunday. Tymochko is a legal aide to the commander of the 40th battalion, which was tasked with guarding the railroad in Debaltseve.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tried to restore some goodwill Wednesday by making an emergency trip to Artemivsk, where he met with commanders and shook hands with soldiers on the military base.

But his visit did not resolve the key questions for most of the soldiers: What comes next? And why they should believe that future fights will turn out any better.

For now, the soldiers are waiting all across Artemivsk for their next orders — to take a break at home, to head back to the front line, or perhaps to prepare to defend their new host city, as some fear pro-Russian rebels may soon push to take over Artemivsk.

They are also waiting to learn what happened to the several hundred soldiers still unaccounted for — killed, captured or lost.
At one point, as the soldiers of the Lviv battalion were describing their escape, the door to the hotel stairwell opened. A soldier in fatigues, still wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest, burst in, throwing out his hands in a greeting.

“It’s the last of our guys!” Trukhan cried, rushing over to embrace Yura Ruchko, 29, who had gotten separated from the group.

“Whoomp. Whoomp. Whoomp,” Ruchko said, mimicking the sounds of the shots he dodged along the way. “But I was lucky. A lot of our friends were left there, and their bodies weren’t even picked up.”

Anton Borisov posted this on Thursday, 19th of February 2015 at 05:51:16 AM

Статья не очень большая…

Ukrainian forces are retreating from a key town where rebels appear to have emerged victorious after claiming that hundreds of government soldiers had surrendered or been captured.

President Petro Poroshenko declared that his forces were carrying out a “planned and organised” departure from the town of Debaltseve, which has been under siege by separatists for weeks and saw fierce battles yesterday despite a ceasefire declared on Sunday.

Speaking from a snowy airfield in Kiev before leaving for the frontlines, Mr Poroshenko praised Ukrainian forces, claiming they fulfilled their duty in defending the town and had shown the world “the true face of the bandits and separatists who are supported by Russia.”

About 80 per cent of Ukrainian forces had been withdrawn from Debaltseve with their weapons and another two columns were expected to leave today.
Vladimir Putin had earlier told Ukraine it should let its soldiers lay down their weapons and flee battles against rebels “to save their own lives”.

Separatists claimed hundreds of soldiers had already surrendered or been captured, although the numbers could not be confirmed.

The Russian President, who has denied persistent allegations that his government is arming the separatists, seemed to back the rebels in the battle for Debaltseve.
“I hope that the responsible figures in the Ukrainian leadership will not hinder soldiers in the Ukrainian army from putting down their weapons,” he said.

“If they aren’t capable of taking that decision themselves and giving that order, then (I hope) that they won’t prosecute people who want to save their lives and the lives of others.”

He added that he hoped the rebels would allow the Ukrainians to return to their families, once they had surrendered Debaltseve.
Thousands of Ukrainian troops were surrounded yesterday in the strategic railway hub as rebels seized parts of the town.Continue reading “The Independent про Украину…” →

The Ukraine crisis is almost a year old and Russia is winning. The separatists in eastern Ukraine are gaining ground and Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, shows no signs of backing down in the face of Western economic sanctions.

Unsurprisingly, a growing chorus of voices in the United States is calling for arming Ukraine. A recent report from three leading American think tanks endorses sending Kiev advanced weaponry, and the White House’s nominee for secretary of defense, Ashton B. Carter, said last week to the Senate armed services committee, “I very much incline in that direction.”

They are wrong. Going down that road would be a huge mistake for the United States, NATO and Ukraine itself. Sending weapons to Ukraine will not rescue its army and will instead lead to an escalation in the fighting. Such a step is especially dangerous because Russia has thousands of nuclear weapons and is seeking to defend a vital strategic interest.

There is no question that Ukraine’s military is badly outgunned by the separatists, who have Russian troops and weapons on their side. Because the balance of power decisively favors Moscow, Washington would have to send large amounts of equipment for Ukraine’s army to have a fighting chance.

But the conflict will not end there. Russia would counter-escalate, taking away any temporary benefit Kiev might get from American arms. The authors of the think tank study concede this, noting that “even with enormous support from the West, the Ukrainian Army will not be able to defeat a determined attack by the Russian military.” In short, the United States cannot win an arms race with Russia over Ukraine and thereby ensure Russia’s defeat on the battlefield.

Proponents of arming Ukraine have a second line of argument. The key to success, they maintain, is not to defeat Russia militarily, but to raise the costs of fighting to the point where Mr. Putin will cave. The pain will supposedly compel Moscow to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and allow it to join the European Union and NATO and become an ally of the West.Continue reading “Don’t Arm Ukraine” →

Ukraine, to use a technical term, is broke. That’s what you call a country whose currency has lost half its value in just two days.

The problem is simple: Ukraine has no money and barely any economy. It’s already talking to the IMF about a $15 billion bailout and what’s euphemistically being called a debt “restructuring”—i.e., default—as its reserves have dwindled down to $6.42 billion, only enough to cover five weeks of imports. (Three months worth is considered the absolute least you can get by with).

So it was more than a bit belated for Ukraine to stop spending the few dollars it does have on propping up its currency, the hryvnia. It took until Thursday for it to do that, though, and, when it did, the reaction was swift and it was violent. The hyrvnia fell from 16.8 to 24.4 per dollar, and then again to 25.3 on Friday, on the news that the government wouldn’t intervene it in anymore. In all, it was a 50 percent decline in 48 hours. And this was despite the fact that its central bank simultaneously jacked up interest rates from 14 to 19.5 percent to try to get people to hold their money in hyrvinia that would pay them a lot instead of dollars that wouldn’t. That, as you can see, didn’t exactly work.

Now let’s back up a minute. Why is Ukraine so doomed? Well, it’s been mismanaged on a world-historical scale by oligarchs who, for decades, have skimmed billions off the country’s nonexistent growth. That last part’s not hyperbole. It seems almost impossible, but Ukraine’s economy has actually shrunk since communism ended in 1991. Or since 1992. Or even 1993. And now its not-so-cold war with Russia is destroying the little that’s left. It’s not just that the rebel strongholds in the factory-heavy east have deprived Ukraine of a quarter of its industrial capacity. It’s that it can’t afford to fight against what’s still it’s biggest trading partner—Russia. Think about that. You don’t usually trade a lot with the country you’re going to battle against, but Ukraine’s economy is so dependent on Russia’s that it still trades more with it than any other country. That means anything that hurts Russia, like lower oil prices or sanctions, just redounds onto Ukraine, and puts it in an even bigger financial hole.

Ukraine, in other words, doesn’t have a lot of foreign currency, and doesn’t have a lot of ways to earn more of it. Not when it didn’t have much of an economy to begin with, it’s fighting its biggest trading partner, and separatists have taken away its industrial heartland. The only questions are how big the bailout will be, and how far the hrvynia will fall in the meantime.